Stormy Eclipse: Encounter in the Land of the Moon
Is it fate that decrees warriors to raise their weapons upon one another? Near the coast of the Land of the Moon two dark robed individuals stand over a defeated shinobi, who is kneeling before them. As the beaten man looks up at his assailants the bright midday sun obscures his vision as it passes in between the overhanging foliage. "What...do want?" the shinobi manages to weakly question, blood trickling out of the corner of mouth. "I'll ask you one more time...who do you take orders from?" the cold feminine tone of one of the cloaked figures inquires. "I already told you GETSU-" the man quickly attempts to sputter before the sent sprawling to the ground by the back of the woman's hand. "That's NOT what we're talking about," she yells before kicking the shinobi in the ribs causing him to cry out in pain. "Are you sure this is the right guy?" she asks turning to what appears to her partner. "Without a doubt..." the second figure replies calmly, "He was definitely involved, but we can't be sure he wasn't acting on his own." "Whatever...if he's not going to talk, just kill him," she orders prompting the second cloaked figure to approach the fallen shinobi. "Stop...Please!" the shinobi yells while using the trunk of a adjacent tree to balance himself enough to stand, "I'll talk...just don't kill me." "Then hurry up and tell us who you're working for," the woman asks, her tone sounding quite impatient at this point. For several moments all is quiet before a scream instantly silenced by the sound of a blade echoes through the forest. "Will that be enough to go on?" the female figure questions her partner as she toward him. "I suppose we'll see," he quietly responds as the two stand over the shinobi's beheaded body. "Tch..It really pisses me off when you answer like that," she barks in annoyance. "My appologies, Rika-sama." "Stupid Nōsei." Back in their village after a long mission, Van and his team were resting after dining on food. "Whew! That was tasty! I wouldn't mind be treated like this after every meal by Koshaku-sensei." Van burped loudly as he spoke with an almost muffled voice. "Yea, that was delicious. But Van, do you have to make it seem less enjoyable with that vulgarness? Its a simple concept called covering your mouth." Kaori mocked in a sarcastic tone. Smiling at his friends Shori inserted himself "Well you know...the both of you have things that without them, well...you just wouldn't be yourselves. And that wouldn't be any fun for anyone. I'm glad we have things the way things are no-" Before he could finish, Hotaru appeared before them. "Team 4! We're moving out...now!" She screamed, instantly getting their attention. "One of the Getsukage's aide's haven't returned. And we are being deployed in order to see what has happened to him." Turning in unison the three shinobi spoke. "Yes ma'am!" Arming themselves, the our shinobi quickly left the village. Abandoning the site Rika and Nōsei head for a small coastal town in hopes to take a break before leaving the country. Lowering their hoods as to not draw attention the duo enters a small establishment and order tea. "We don't need to collect anything...so we'll be on our way after we rest a bit. I prefer to be back on the mainland anyway," Rika quietly complains to her partner. After sipping from his beverage Nōsei shifts his attention to her, "I thought you would like an area surrounded by water." "That really has nothing to do with it at all...stupid," Rika retorts turning her head away from him. Flashing through the woods, Team 4 searched throughout the area. Hotaru stopped as she looked around. "Hold it. There's the scent of blood around here. Kaori, Shori! Look around there. Van, with me!" Landing in a secluded area Hotaru spoke to Van. "There's something I need to tell you." She paused before writing something down and sending it on a carrier pigeon back to the village. "This could be the work of a few SS-ranked shinobi. In case something happens to me, I want you to take those two back to the village and IMMEDIATELY inform the getsukage. No questions, no looking back. Understood?" Van laughed in a confused tone. "What would ever happen to you? I'm pretty sure you could handle anything that is thr-" Before he could finish, Hotaru grabbed his neck. "I'm not kidding Van! If something happens, book it out of there!" She pushed him to a ground with a hard thud before pointing to the headless body. "I didn't want the others to see that. This is how serious it is now Van." As Rika and Nōsei head for the coast the young swordsman suddenly stops and directs his gaze towards the forest they were in earlier. While he couldn't explain it even to himself, it was like he could feel the presence of something far off in that direction. "Let's hurry up and leave, I don't want to stay another night in this country," Rika begins to explain before noticing her partner falling behind. "Hey! What's the matter?" she asks abruptly. "Uh...nothing," Nosei responds before catching up with his partner as begin down a long stretch of beach. Spotting the two strange beings from the trees Kaori grabbed Shori. "Who are those guys? That doesn't look to be any good for us." Pulling him back she continued to whisper. "So do you think they had something to do with it? If so we should go back and tell sensei." "Why go back? They could just be travelers taking a vacation here.There's no need to just assume they did something." Shori smiled as he continued to watch. Kaori sighed "You know...you've been hanging around Van too much. One day its going to cost one of you your lives," Suddenly turning towards the forest once again Nōsei is sure he something is array at this point. "Rika...something's not right. I can feel chakra with a similar taint as Teiou's tailed beast looming off in the direction we were earlier," Nōsei explains, uncertainty in his tone. "So what?" Rika responds harshly, "It's not like it has anything to do with us." "Just stay on guard...I'm suddenly feeling uneasy," Nōsei implores moving down the beach once again. "Whatever you say," Rika responds as they approach a small pier. Meeting up with Shori and Kaori, Hotaru and Van exchanged information in theri team. "So, there were some shady figures? And yet you did nothing to stop them!? What were you thinking!?" Hotaru was screaming at Shori while readying herself Almost in a whimper, Shori spoke. "I-I'm sorry mom...er...sensei. I wasn't thinking that they were the ones that could be capable of all of this." "Its fine! Let's just hope they haven't left yet! Team 4...Kogarasumaru...move out!!!" Jumping through the trees and arriving near the beached area they all stopped as they spotted two cloaked figures. "That's them Sensei." Kaori whispered. "Throwing a kunai in front of the two Hotaru shouted. "Hold it!" Looking at the kunai lodged in the sand Rika can't help but to sigh in annoyance. "Do the shinobi of this country make it a point to detain people?" She questioned turning toward the direction in which the projectile was thrown. "This is going to be a problem," Nōsei thought to himself as he looked on in silence. He preferred not to interact much with professional shinobi considering his past, but today obviously wasn't his lucky day. Whatever the consequences of this meeting his only responsibility was to the charge he had sworn to protect. Landing in front of the two strangers, Hotaru held a long metal wire. "I hope you don't mind if we keep you here for some questioning. There was an incident, and we have to question everyone possible about what might have happen. I certainly hope that won't be a problem for the two of you?" "Unfortunately, we're on a time constraint...I hope you understand," Rika responds with a smirk. Meanwhile Nōsei keeps a sharp focus on the wire being wielded by the kunoichi. "Why don't you pester someone else," Rika suggests, merely attempting to add fuel to the fire. "Well if you're on a time restraint then the faster you come along and cooperate then the faster you can be on your way." Hotaru smiled. "But I can see that you're in a hurry so why don't you just come along quietly?" "Oh yeah, well-" Rika begins to speak before being oddly cut off by Nōsei. "I believe my partner has left out a key detail. We have no intention being taken into custody, especially by a shinobi village," Nōsei begins in a cold tone, "I apologize for the inconvenience to your pending investigation, but I can assure you that we aren't of any interest to you. Though, if you intend to press this matter I would call out your squad, they can't be of any aid from that distance." Staring directly at Hotaru for a moment before speaking again Nōsei's switches a much calmer tone, "Though...you could opt to search for your answers elsewhere and rid yourself of any developing trouble." "Something's bothering him," Rika thinks to herself with an air of concern dominating her expression. Hotaru let an evil grin come across her face as she spoke. "Heh. Fufufufu. Its not that I had them stay back because I wanted them to perform a sneak attack on you two. I figured you two wouldn't come quietly so I wanted them to stay back becaue they would be in the way if I decided to go all out on you. I would easily go search elsewhere for answers but by the way you so hastily refused, it obviously means that something is up. You might as well have guilty plastered across your faces." "Hmph...just like a shinobi to jump to conclusions without regarding the magnitude of their decisions," Nōsei responds solemnly before speaking to Rika, "Milady...prepare for battle." Allowing the grin to subside, Hotaru's normal emotional state took over. "I apologize for the rudeness, I am Hotaru Koshaku from Getsugakure. I am here to find out what happened to an aide of our Kage. I did not mean to offend with my words, but we are in a state of alarm and I was on edge letting my immature side come out on top of my rational thinking. As a jonin representative of my village, that act was disgraceful but now if conflict is unavoidable then I suppose we have no choice." "My condolences regarding the increased tension regarding the developing situation, but our duties require us to be on opposite sides today. In advance I would like you to know that this isn't personal, and and has nothing to do with your village in particular," Nōsei explains stoically, "Though if you're adamant about keeping the rest of your squad out of harm's way, my partner will stand down for the meantime." "Are you crazy!? We should-" Rika attempts to begin before being cut off once again by her partner. "I'm not going to risk your well being over something that doesn't have anything to do with your objective," Nōsei explains without taking his eyes off of Hotaru, "Just let me do my job...and we'll be on our way soon enough." Immediately repositioning himself between Hotaru and Rika the young swordsman motions for his partner to back up, which she reluctantly does, before addressing the kunoichi yet again, "Anytime you're ready Koshaku-san." The Battle Begins "Very well, as long as we both know what this truly about." Drawing her sword, Hotaru lunged foward "Prepare yourself. Toxin Release: Toxic Infusion!" Covering her blade in a purple chakra, She swung her blade towards Nosei's stomach. "I hope you guys are watching this carefully." In the trees the 3 Getsukage shinobi waited. Van spoke as he looked at the worried expression on Shori's face. "Don't worry man. Your mom will be just fine. She isn't weak at all you know. All these years she's been doing her own thing, heck she was even able to kill your fat-" Van silenced himself as he caught a glare from Shori Smacking Van in the head, Kaori leaned over and whispered "Don't mention that Van. You know better than to bring up that subject." Oddly stepping into Hotaru's strike Nōsei crosses his left arm over his body before conjuring a black katana, which materializes just in time to intercept Hotaru's slash. Following up immediately the young swordsman rotates around Hotaru in the opposite direction that her sword swung from and shifts his blade into his right hand. Utilizing the force of his rotation to his advantage Nōsei attempts a shallow, yet quick, slash across the kunoichi's back, who he is standing behind at this point. The slash causing her to arc forward, Hotaru began spinning her blade behind her as she switched hands, holding it toward Nōsei she swung it several times causing poisonous crescents to fly toward him. "I see you have some talent. You aren't the average person after all. You will have to forgive my dismissiveness towards you." Hopping back in order to give himself an extra moment to react Nōsei avoids damage from the crescents of chakra through a mixture of dodging and wind enhanced sword slashes, the latter widening his strikes in addition to sharpening them in order to split the bursts of poisonous chakra around himself. "I'm guessing that technique isn't used to increase the sharpness of her sword, which makes it all the more necessary to avoid," the young swordsman thinks to himself before swinging his sword forward through the air launching a potent gale in Hotaru's direction. Turning to face the warrior, Hotaru fired a few more crescents as she formed a few hand signs "Toxin Release: Demon Wall!" Creating a large barrier made of hardened toxins, Hotaru hid herself behind it in order to ave herself from being blown to pieces by the gale. "Not bad. But I'm afraid we may be pushing ourselves for no reason. Why don't you just come in for questioning then be on your way?" As the crescents close in on Nōsei he displaces up a significant amount of sand around his location, effectively impeding Hotaru's visual lock upon him. A moment after Hotaru's technique penetrates the "sandstorm" the displaced debris subsides, leaving Nōsei's location to be unknown. It is then that the young swordsman's voice can be hear several meters to the kunoichi's side, "To put it briefly...I've had a bad history with shinobi. Therefore, I can't surrender myself to your custody. More importantly, I've come to believe you are a kekkei genkai user of some sort. If this is true...I'm truly sorry for you." "Sorry? For me? What for? I am proud of my gifts...I fear not of what may come. But for you..." Hotaru's eyes narrowed as she formed a hand seal "Toxin Release: Toxic Cloud" Spewing a stream of toxic fumes from her mouth, Hotaru allowed it to spread throughout the area as she used formed a combination of hand signs performing two jutsu together. She then whispered "Earth Release: Underground Submarine Voyage" Before using a clone technique creating several copies of her scattered throughout the poisonous mist. "I suppose that confirms that she is using poison," Nōsei thinks to himself as he stabs his sword into the ground before performing a nearly untraceable set of hand seals. Just and the cloud engulfs the young swordsman a draconic construct of wind swirls around his location absorbing the toxic fumes before launching into the overhanging clouds and disappearing. Nōsei, in the meantime, has be lowered to a knee as his gaze shifts between Hotaru's doppelgangers, "Tch...is the real one even amongst the clone, and to make it worse I seem to have inhaled a small amount of those fumes." Trying to buy a few moments Nōsei attempts to prolong his conversation with Hotaru, "When I said I'm sorry for you...I meant to say that I'm sorry for the predicament that being born with a kekkei genkai puts you in. People with such a curse are valued primarily as a weapon for their village, and will be chosen for extermination if they don't play their part well." All the clones seemed to speak in unison "Oh? You must have had a hard life. In our village those with Kekkai Genkai are treated with respect. Our Kage has one as well and is well treated by our people." Turning to where Nōsei is the clones threw a barrage of kunai at his location. "But I suppose that's the life of a shinobi is it not? There will be times where we aren't needed anymore. But until that time comes we must do that we can." Raging On Observing the clones carefully before they hurl the barrage of projectiles Nōsei begins to understand the situation at hand. Quickly revealing a kunai from underneath his robe the ex-shinobi deflects the projectiles that had an actual chance of hitting him, effectively verifying his observation. "This is an Amegakure tactic...a simple one at that," Nōsei begins as he stands up, "I would expect more from someone heading an investigation for the Kage. Though since all of these clones aren't disturbing the ground that they're standing upon...they're obviously lacking physical substance. As such, I've concluded that you were hoping to sneak up on me and end this quickly." "Hm? Sneak up on you? No no. There's much more to it than that. I wanted to know...well I'll leave that be for now. Why don't we kick this battle up a few notches?" Forming a hand sign the real Hotaru appeared from the ground spewing a cloud of poison into the area around her masking her presence. "Toxin Release: Toxic Double!" Creating clones of herself, Hotaru sent two of the clones charging at Nosei with their swords. "Let's see if this shows what else he is capable of." Dropping the kunai to his side Nōsei performs a peculiar set of hand seals. "Unfortunately...you given me too much time and my real self has overcome your poison," he explains before grasping the handle of the sword and dispersing into electricity. Due to the sudden disappearance of Nōsei's clone the attacks originating from Hotaru's doppelgangers sadly miss their target. It is then that several meters adjacent from the sword embedded in the ground that the true Nōsei, who has a small smear of blood coming out of the corner of his mouth, appears. Reaching towards the sword he had abandoned previous the blade lifts from the ground and furious rotates through the locations where Hotaru's two clones are standing before returning to Nōsei. Catching spinning katana promptly the young swordsman swings it to the side to remove any potential debris before turning his attention back Hotaru and her collection of clones. Smirking, Hotaru spoke out from among the clones. "I wouldn't be so smug if I were you. Those clones aren't average." Pointing behind Nosei, she revealed that the clones that he destroyed have released a poison that was creeping toward him. "You're stuck between two toxin. But let's make it a clear three. I hope you're prepared for this one. Things are gonna get a bit more hectic." Forming rapid hand seals, Hotaru began channeling her chakra into three orbs that circled around her. "Toxin Release: Impure Rain!" Firing the three orbs of toxic chakra into the air, Hotaru moved her hands in a circular motion causing all three orbs to explode, raining down upon Nosei. "This dreariness, this hell, this....rain. This is where I will defeat you." "Rika! Get back!" Nōsei yells prompting the young woman to jump back onto the surface of the water just before the swordsman is engulfed by the toxic downpour. Noticing that Rika had managed to stay clear of the rain a look of relief crosses Nōsei's face, despite being drenched at this point. "It seems you misunderstood the words my clone spoke earlier. When he said that you've given me too much time to overcome your poison...he didn't just mean the amount I inhaled," Nōsei says as he begins to address Hotaru while toxins drip off of him, "I've devised a method to render both your vaporized toxins as well as those that can inflict damage through the surface of my skin." Reaching his free hand out he forms a sword, which he immediately grasps and holds up for Hotaru to see. "As you can see I have the ability to condense chakra into glass like state. After I replaced myself with the lightning clone I noticed that your toxic chakra didn't have any effect sand we are standing on, so I realized that a similar substance could serve as a defense, a incredibly thin layer of glass around my body to be precise, that I initiated before I returned to combat. Though unfortunately, I would still need to handle the small poison that I inhaled and find a way to prevent it from happening again. I was forced to materialize microscopic glass shards around your poison particles in my respiratory system, which was quite unpleasant to cough up," Nōsei explains before allowing the glass sword to disintegrate and turning to the poisonous fumes creeping up on him. By simply swinging the black katana through the fumes a significant portion of the cloud appears to fall to the ground as toxic ash. "Where was I...oh yeah, I needed a way to avoid inhaling fumes of this sort again. To accomplish this I had my lightning clone seal all of its chakra into this sword, which after being returned to me can be slowly leaked out. This effectively ionizes particles it comes in contact with, causing them to form artificial intermolecular forces that draw and bind the particles together. This increase in density as your toxins bind together causes them to be heavier than air, and thus simply fall to the ground," he says before demonstrating with a few more sword swings, weighing the rest of the toxins down to a harmless film on the ground. "So...I believe it's my turn to force your hand," Nōsei begins with a solemn look on his face, "The wind dragon bullet that I used before to absorb your toxic cloud and send above the clouds is still under my control. You should consider falling back with your squad before I command it to crash into that treeline, because I have a feeling that you would dislike that." Elsewhere on top of the water Rika lets out a sigh of relief. "I'd hate to admit it, but I'm glad he always has a back up plan," she thinks to herself before wondering what was going to happen next. Raising an eyebrow, Hotaru yawned as before expressing a feeling of boredum shown in her shrug. "You know. You really do talk too much. I respect that but, I also find it to be incredibly dull. Tsk. Seems my son and his friends have influenced me to a degree. You use glass as well as electricity correct? Hm. And you believe to have nullified me by ionizing the particles in my poison gas? How wrong and naive you are." Raising a hand, Hotaru begin motioning the poison on the ground to rise to the air. "These are my toxins, I can bend them to my will, and you have not yet faced anything yet." Pulling the poison around her and Nosei, Hotaru dropped the poison on top of them and hardened it as it collided with the ground. Watching as it slid off Nosei's thin veil of glass, Hotaru expressed a feeling of distaste. "As a glass user, adding it to your body will innately add to your total mass." Performing a series of hand seals Hotaru usedher long legs to reach onto the ground while they were locked in place. "Earth Release: Swamp Of The Underworld!" Turning a large portion of the sand into a swamp Hotaru smiled as they both began to sink. "As for your wind dragon. I'm not too worried. They aren't you're average shinobi. But if you wish to try them, feel free. I just wish you luck in dealing with their abilities." "Earth, huh?" Nōsei ponders as he began to sink into the swamp with a look of disappointment crossing his face. "You definitely are a skilled combatant, but I wonder why you would use earth against a lightning user," he responds calmly despite knowing his shell was weighing him down, "Unless you plan on suffocating me right now, perhaps you should try that interrogation before I stage my escape." "Hmph. Well...let's put it this way. You have a few options on how to go about this. Toxin Release: Toxic Cloud." Spewing poison gas from her mouth, allowing it to wrap around her and Nosei, Hotaru used the previous Earth jutsu to sink partway into the swamp allowing her to bypass drowning. "You're stuck between a painful death by poison or an even more painful death by getting crushed by the Earth's pressure." She smiled as she swam through the marsh-like battlefield grabbing Nosei's legs dragging him down even faster. "I guess I can't hold back this much against an opponent of this caliber is just going to waste time," Nōsei thinks to himself as he takes a deep breath before being pulled beneath the surface. Quickly retaliating he runs a quick jolt of lighting from his entire body, just enough to relieve Hotaru's contact with him, before swimming through the swamp in a similar fashion as his enemy did beforehand. Emerging from the ground just outside of the marsh's radius Nōsei sighs as the mud upon his clothes changes to a fine sand and falls off. "I suppose I can't hide it anymore," Nōsei begins while revealing his dōjutsu and stepping forward a step, "One of the abilities of my kekkei genkai is to borrow the nature of chakra I come in contact with. Though, I haven't been forced to reveal my bloodline to a shinobi since I fought Teiō, you truly are skilled Koshaku-san." Patiently waiting for Hotaru's next attack Nōsei prepared to increase the intensity of this battle. "Heh. Oh? Another copy dojutsu? Hm. I suppose I will have to go back to my father to learn how to combat against it." Pulling herself from the mud, Hotaru looked toward the woods as she pulled out a few shuriken. "I do hope they're watching this battle throughly. Toxic Release: Toxic Infusion!" Forming a quick hand seal, Hotaru motioned foward as she shouted "Toxin Release: Hazard Wolf!" As she shouted the release for her jutsu, a large wolf made of her toxic chakra emerged from the swamp as it charged foward toward Nosei. Running behind the wolf, Hotaru launched the shuriken into the air as she perfomed a chain of hand seals "Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique" The shuriken infused with her toxic chakra began to multiply as they flew toward their intended targets. "Copying? Not quite," Nōsei responds giving shape the the earth chakra he was barely contacting, forming a sturdy wall about half way between Hotaru an himself. "Just borrowing your earth nature for a mere moment," he continued as the poison infused shuriken were sufficiently blocked. "Animal shaped techniques can usually move in complex paths...I better prepare," he thought to himself flowing wind chakra on the blade of his katana and waiting for whether or not the wolf would collide with the wall or attempt to approach him from another direction. "Heh. Is that the case? Very well. I suppose I should show you another trick of mine." Forming another hand seal, the wolf split into two as Hotaru mounted the wall firing several crescents of her poison energy towards Nosei yet again as the wolves came charging from both sides. Carefully observing the incoming techniques for the briefest of moments a small bolt of electricity can be been arcing across the sword in Nōsei's hand before he increases the wind based chakra flow through the blade. Taking aim at Hotaru Nōsei hurls the wind enhanced sword in a rotating fashion, effectively cutting through the poison crescents in the process. Switching gears instantaneously, in order to handle the wolves closing in on him, Nōsei reveals a white katana from underneath his cloak which he immediately uses to launch a thin wave of slicing chakra towards one of the wolves. Simultaneously, he directs the wind dragon technique, which was left upon standby earlier, to impede the movement of the second wolf. Repositioning himself on the battlefield slightly, Nōsei sheaths his sword and enters an Iai stance as the density of his chakra increases.